I work in Oakland, CA 3 days a week. When I work there I ride in a commuter van. Very big, 12 person van.

So it was my shift to drive the commute van this morning. Fine. I enjoy it since I wake up early anyways and I just listen to music and chill. It's relaxing.

I take the back streets to save time. While waiting for traffic to clear on Broadway a person behind me honked. I guess I could have sped across the street in between cars but I have 10 people I am responsible for so I don't take chances. Who the heck is in such a hurry at 7am anyway?

So traffic clears and I start to cross. The person behind me decides to go in the opposite lane (against traffic) and pass me. And I guess turn right in front of me (?). So I hit them (or they hit me) as they tried to turn right in front of me.

Totally messed up their car. The way we hit I pretty much screwed up the whole passenger side of their car. And we were stuck together. Rolled down the window. And so did they. It was an agitated woman. Driving a brand new Camry.

So we got un-stuck then pulled over (I thought she was going to run as she drove a half block before pulling over). I walked over to talk to her and she immediately started demanding my information. I told her I'm happy to exchange info but I have 10 witnesses that know she's at fault so I need her insurance info. (don't even dream Oakland pd will show up take a non injury accident report)

She said the car was brand new and of course she has full coverage. But she wouldn't provide it. Her car reeked of weed. I called her out on her lie. I knew she didn't have insurance. She accused me of 'getting in her face' and said "you want to start *stuff* then fine!" She wanted to get into a fist fight with me. No kidding.

I stepped back and asked my friends from the van to talk to her. Turns out her 'new car with full coverage' turned into a rental car from Hertz. And she had no license (or she wouldn't provide it). PD was called at this point but they said they could not respond and just to file a report.

So my friends took pictures of the registration, license plate, her, the damage, etc. All the while she was talking smack to me about how I disrespected her (I was never rude to her at all).

The second we turned our back to her she jumped in her (well not her) car and sped off.

Best thing was the damage to our big Ford van was almost nothing. I couldn't believe it considering the damage to (not her) car. A small dent in the drivers side front bumper. I guess she got hit by the strongest point of the van.

Oakland has lots of gangs, from what I heard. I was in a cab once, and the driver told me there are parts of the city he would not agree to go.

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This is something I've never understood about USA. How can there be parts of cities, that are known to be dangerous and yet nothing is done about it.

I once went to the National XC Championships at Boston (as a kid) and was told that that part is dangerous even in broad daylight. If it is then why aren't the police patrolling it or clearing it up or whatever.

This is something I've never understood about USA. How can there be parts of cities, that are known to be dangerous and yet nothing is done about it.

I once went to the National XC Championships at Boston (as a kid) and was told that that part is dangerous even in broad daylight. If it is then why aren't the police patrolling it or clearing it up or whatever.

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It is about funding and resources. The police have to prioritize what they deal with.Also, there are places like Denmark that allow certain criminal elements to be protected, because they function as informants. In Copenhagen, confidential informants are often protected, despite significant crimes. Nevertheless, this is entirely beside the point

This is something I've never understood about USA. How can there be parts of cities, that are known to be dangerous and yet nothing is done about it.

I once went to the National XC Championships at Boston (as a kid) and was told that that part is dangerous even in broad daylight. If it is then why aren't the police patrolling it or clearing it up or whatever.

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I have a buddy that used to be an EMT. There were places here in Atlanta that they wouldn't respond to without a police escort. There were neighborhoods that would clean out their ambulance while they were inside a home caring for a patient.

Only in CA do you call the cops and they say they're too busy to show up.

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In Oakland the cops will only respond to a 911 call immediately if the crime is in progress. You just got mugged? The guy is gone? We'll get there when we can.

"Sounds like a typical day in Oakland. At least she didn't shoot you."

You don't know how relieved I was when she rolled down her window and I saw it was a woman. She was a crazy woman but at least not a male gang banger. Thing that worried me was she was on the phone with someone when I approached her, talking about how some one just 'hit her'. I was glad when she drove off, no real damage to the van and I certainly didn't want deal with her 'friends'.

Oh yeah, it was a Lexus not a Camry. Everything happened so fast and it was dark and it was a stressful situation I wasn't even paying attention to the make and model.

This is something I've never understood about USA. How can there be parts of cities, that are known to be dangerous and yet nothing is done about it.

I once went to the National XC Championships at Boston (as a kid) and was told that that part is dangerous even in broad daylight. If it is then why aren't the police patrolling it or clearing it up or whatever.

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It is common for there to be dangerous streets a few blocks away from a peaceful place. That is why home prices are very sensitive to these things. The schools can be drastically different in standard.

To understand this, you need to take various things into account. First is the racism which prevailed for a very long time. This drove many people into the downtown parts of the city where they could be together. In suburban and rural areas, they were easy to spot and harass. In downtown, they could look out for each other and run their own shops, and be free from the vicious enforcement of racist laws by rural sheriffs. But poverty still continued as they were obviously not becoming rich in a day (and many were not even legally allowed to have an education under Jim Crow laws). When these people moved in, the existing people did not want them around and they fled to the suburbs, blaming them (while not acknowledging the root cause). Home values went down and schools became bad. This led to crime and drugs, and the cycle continued.

The other reason is the prevalence of guns. Guns and drugs make for a deadly combination. So the area gets labeled as dangerous. In the US, poverty and crime go hand-in-hand. That is why Richard Williams said in Hyderabad (one of the sisters was playing the WTA there) that if the US had areas with the level of poverty in Indian cities, they would have all killed each other. He probably did not understand the role of culture, but he was partially correct. Poverty in the US does not get any sympathy, because it is assumed that a poor guy is a lazy bum to not make use of the opportunities (and it is true to some extent). Gun rights which made sense when the pioneers were settling remote areas with no law enforcement in place are still boosted by gun manufacturers, leading to these guns showing up in densely populated areas.

The third reason is that "dangerous" has different connotations. If you are comparing an Indian city with a "dangerous" US neighborhood, you need to factor in that hardly any woman will be walking alone after dark without males guarding her. In fact, this would be true even in daylight in most places where harassment and worse is the norm. My sister-in-law who is settled in Singapore says that when she arrived there, she thought something was wrong with the place, because no one was harassing her. It was unbelievable that a young woman could move about freely minding her business. In the US, women can be walking in mini skirts at 11 pm. Something might happen once in a while at 2 am in the night when a woman gets attacked in a bar, and the area would be called dangerous. So, the comparison needs to take all this into account. If you are always on the guard and limit yourself, then obviously you will not face danger.

And lastly, police resources are limited and they will not look into every petty crime.

But bottomline is that urban violence is a very important topic and that is why you see all these urban development projects, etc. In practice, it means you should stay away from these places because one person is not going to fix these problems, and that is why home prices are much higher in other areas.

Actually, crime rate is the lowest in the US that it has been in decades. This has been documented in several places. So don't believe all the bad stuff which is thrust in our face in the news every day.

So her first priority was calling a friend (presumably) and not the authorities. And this was before she got out of the car, with all that entails? Like is someone hurt, what damage was done to both vehicles.

Actually, crime rate is the lowest in the US that it has been in decades. This has been documented in several places. So don't believe all the bad stuff which is thrust in our face in the news every day.

When in doubt, call LeeD to protect you.

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I don't know the laws there but carry a gun or have one in the car for protection.

You don't like to do it but in todays climate with gangs and all you might need something to shut them down hard and save your butt.

I don't know the laws there but carry a gun or have one in the car for protection.

You don't like to do it but in todays climate with gangs and all you might need something to shut them down hard and save your butt.

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That is OK as long as you don't use it because you are in a bad mood after a bad line call, or someone else takes your gun and does the same. That is where the problem arises. If people feel that keeping a bottle of beer in the car beside you should be illegal because you cannot be trusted, how come the same people are OK with a gun?

It is a very difficult subject and I don't think there is any definitive proof of anything. Any piece of data can be twisted to any point of view. That is why "common sense" legislation is important.

Two of my neighbors have guns, for example. One of them told me that when a bunch of kids were running around once banging on doors, he loaded his gun and was ready. Nothing happened, but what do you make of this?

This is something I've never understood about USA. How can there be parts of cities, that are known to be dangerous and yet nothing is done about it.

I once went to the National XC Championships at Boston (as a kid) and was told that that part is dangerous even in broad daylight. If it is then why aren't the police patrolling it or clearing it up or whatever.

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Doesn't this happen in pretty much every big city regardless of location and country? You can't completely eliminate unsavory parts of the city. You try to clean one part up, criminals, low lifes and other dangerous types will simply move somewhere else.

I don't know the laws there but carry a gun or have one in the car for protection.

You don't like to do it but in todays climate with gangs and all you might need something to shut them down hard and save your butt.

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I've never felt the need to carry a gun and I don't plan to. I know Oakland gets a bad name in national news but the truth is most of the violence (especially the deadly violence) there is similar to other urban areas - gang on gang stuff. No one cares about that. Like Sureshs said there are good areas and bad areas, some very close to each other. Avoid the bad areas.

So her first priority was calling a friend (presumably) and not the authorities. And this was before she got out of the car, with all that entails? Like is someone hurt, what damage was done to both vehicles.

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Of course that was her first priority. Why would she want to call authorities? She had no driver's license, no insurance, was on drugs and was totally at fault. I was glad when she left because I didn't want to deal with whomever she was on the phone with. They probably told her to run.

Someone told me it's common around here for people to rent cars with stolen cc's and fake ID's and just keep the car. Might be the case here. Crazy.

It is common for there to be dangerous streets a few blocks away from a peaceful place. That is why home prices are very sensitive to these things. The schools can be drastically different in standard.

To understand this, you need to take various things into account. First is the racism which prevailed for a very long time. This drove many people into the downtown parts of the city where they could be together. In suburban and rural areas, they were easy to spot and harass. In downtown, they could look out for each other and run their own shops, and be free from the vicious enforcement of racist laws by rural sheriffs. But poverty still continued as they were obviously not becoming rich in a day (and many were not even legally allowed to have an education under Jim Crow laws). When these people moved in, the existing people did not want them around and they fled to the suburbs, blaming them (while not acknowledging the root cause). Home values went down and schools became bad. This led to crime and drugs, and the cycle continued.

The other reason is the prevalence of guns. Guns and drugs make for a deadly combination. So the area gets labeled as dangerous. In the US, poverty and crime go hand-in-hand. That is why Richard Williams said in Hyderabad (one of the sisters was playing the WTA there) that if the US had areas with the level of poverty in Indian cities, they would have all killed each other. He probably did not understand the role of culture, but he was partially correct. Poverty in the US does not get any sympathy, because it is assumed that a poor guy is a lazy bum to not make use of the opportunities (and it is true to some extent). Gun rights which made sense when the pioneers were settling remote areas with no law enforcement in place are still boosted by gun manufacturers, leading to these guns showing up in densely populated areas.

The third reason is that "dangerous" has different connotations. If you are comparing an Indian city with a "dangerous" US neighborhood, you need to factor in that hardly any woman will be walking alone after dark without males guarding her. In fact, this would be true even in daylight in most places where harassment and worse is the norm. My sister-in-law who is settled in Singapore says that when she arrived there, she thought something was wrong with the place, because no one was harassing her. It was unbelievable that a young woman could move about freely minding her business. In the US, women can be walking in mini skirts at 11 pm. Something might happen once in a while at 2 am in the night when a woman gets attacked in a bar, and the area would be called dangerous. So, the comparison needs to take all this into account. If you are always on the guard and limit yourself, then obviously you will not face danger.

And lastly, police resources are limited and they will not look into every petty crime.

But bottomline is that urban violence is a very important topic and that is why you see all these urban development projects, etc. In practice, it means you should stay away from these places because one person is not going to fix these problems, and that is why home prices are much higher in other areas.

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I totally get where you're coming from..up to a point.

Let's cut to the chase: that cretin was a waking, tawking POS. Here we have an ADULT who instead of taking responsibility for her actions (driving stoned in a car, endangering everyone in her path, selfishly and recklessly breaching the inherent "social contract" we all have) instead played a greasy game of "project & deflect" (this pos trying to flip it like SHE was the 'disrepected' victim).

Yes, I know that certain disenfranchised groups having been unfairly taking it on the chin for eons, but at the same time I know slews of beautiful people of whatever socio-economic strata who are 'rich' in common courtesy, civility and the learned sense of decency they received from an aunt or from their grandparents, whomever--people of true grace and beauty and dignity--people who do not make excuses for abominable behavior; people you truly admire. And playing the 'victimization in perpetuity' card helps no one either in the long run.

A thoughful post on your part but one that imho is short on "time to grow up lady" and too long on simplistic enabling. The woman was a piece of mierda, plain and simple...sorry if I don't buy the 'sob-blame society' excuses. But (in the interest of levity) this reminds me of a cute little yarn:

Two liberals were walking down the street whereupon they came across a man lying there having been beaten to within an inch of his life. The first man said to the other: "This is horrible...we must find the man who did this!!" whereupon the other replied: "you're right, we have to get him help!!"

That is OK as long as you don't use it because you are in a bad mood after a bad line call, or someone else takes your gun and does the same. That is where the problem arises. If people feel that keeping a bottle of beer in the car beside you should be illegal because you cannot be trusted, how come the same people are OK with a gun?

It is a very difficult subject and I don't think there is any definitive proof of anything. Any piece of data can be twisted to any point of view.

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Youre right. A good example is the stat you threw out earlier stating that the crime rate is the lowest its been in decades. The only way they can get that stat is to be manipulating the data to say that. They don't even calculate illegal aliens being here as a crime any longer even though it is a crime for them to cross our border.

Let's cut to the chase: that cretin was a waking, tawking POS. Here we have an ADULT who instead of taking responsibility for her actions (driving stoned in a car, endangering everyone in her path, selfishly and recklessly breaching the inherent "social contract" we all have) instead played a greasy game of "project & deflect" (this pos trying to flip it like SHE was the 'disrepected' victim).

Yes, I know that certain disenfranchised groups having been unfairly taking it on the chin for eons, but at the same time I know slews of beautiful people of whatever socio-economic strata who are 'rich' in common courtesy, civility and the learned sense of decency they received from an aunt or from their grandparents, whomever--people of true grace and beauty and dignity--people who do not make excuses for abominable behavior; people you truly admire. And playing the 'victimization in perpetuity' card helps no one either in the long run.

A thoughful post on your part but one that imho is short on "time to grow up lady" and too long on simplistic enabling. The woman was a piece of mierda, plain and simple...sorry if I don't buy the 'sob-blame society' excuses. But (in the interest of levity) this reminds me of a cute little yarn:

Two liberals were walking down the street whereupon they came across a man lying there having been beaten to within an inch of his life. The first man said to the other: "This is horrible...we must find the man who did this!!" whereupon the other replied: "you're right, we have to get him help!!"

Youre right. A good example is the stat you threw out earlier stating that the crime rate is the lowest its been in decades. The only way they can get that stat is to be manipulating the data to say that. They don't even calculate illegal aliens being here as a crime any longer even though it is a crime for them to cross our border.

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No, crime rates are way down. It is due to much better technology that law enforcement has, the increased screening that was put in place after 9/11, more automation of records, surveillance cameras, and so forth. It is not good to be always cynical.